Yay! You’re having a baby! Now that your bundle of joy is on the way, it’s important to figure out what your maternity leave will look like. Knowing how many weeks you’ll have off work and what kind of financial benefits you can expect will help you plan and budget accordingly. Of course, it’s no secret that maternity leave in the U.S. badly lags other developed countries. My colleague, Tom, and his wife, Radhika, discovered just how far behind U.S. mat leave is after they moved from Toronto to San Francisco two years ago. Their first child, now 3, was born in Canada, while their second child, now six months, was born in the U.S. I asked Tom to share his family’s experiences and give some insight into what mat leave was like financially in both countries. Here’s what he and his wife found: Good-Bye 12 Months, Hello 12 Weeks